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In a striking podcast with journalist Mehdi Hasan, A British-American political commentator known for his sharp analysis and fearless questioning, writer and activist Arundhati Roy, celebrated for her Booker Prize–winning novel The God of Small Things and her bold critiques of power, exposes a disturbing convergence: Zionism and Hindutva, two ideologies that weaponize religion to consolidate power.
At first glance, Israel and India seem worlds apart, yet both transform faith into nationalism and nationalism into divine entitlement.
Zionism began as a movement for Jewish survival after centuries of persecution but over time it evolved into a political project that justifies occupation and exclusion in the name of security. Similarly, Hindutva, once cultural pride, now defines who belongs in India and who does not. Both draw on historical grievance, converting past suffering into present dominance. Fear becomes legitimacy, and history is weaponized.
Roy emphasizes that this is not merely theoretical. India and Israel actively exchange strategies of control from military technology to surveillance and propaganda. In both contexts, minorities are portrayed as threats, dissent is criminalized, and nationalism becomes a tool of exclusion. The rhetoric of “security” masks oppression, and the language of patriotism erases humanity.
Moreover, the West often legitimizes these regimes as “democracies” while ignoring human rights abuses. Roy calls this “manufactured moral legitimacy” , democracy used as a mask rather than a mirror.
In essence, Zionism and Hindutva are technologies of power, sacralizing the state while silencing the marginalized.
Ultimately, the podcast highlights a stark warning: when religion is fused with the nation, citizenship becomes conditional and morality negotiable. Fear and exclusion replace empathy and justice.
As Roy concludes, the real cost is human:
“When God becomes the Nation, the Nation forgets how to be human.”
Conclusion:
From an Islamic lens, the misuse of religion for worldly power directly contradicts the Qur’anic principle that “Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous” (Qur’an 49:13), not the one belonging to a certain nation, race, or ideology. The Prophet ﷺ taught humility, justice, and compassion not domination in the name of faith. When religion becomes a political weapon, it loses its moral essence. As believers, we are reminded that Islam stands for truth and justice even against ourselves. True faith purifies the heart, not the flag.
In Roy’s words, “When God becomes the Nation, the Nation forgets how to be human.”
And in the Qur’anic sense, when power replaces piety, humanity itself is at risk of being forgotten.
